No President Should Pray! Unless It’s Obama…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

When President George W. Bush merely mentioned that he prayed, secular liberals went ballistic. “He should not be praying,” said MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell upon learning that Bush had prayed before sending U.S. troops into Iraq. Bush had merely done what all of his predecessors (Republican or Democrat) had done: prayed before sending American boys into battle.

And yet, Bush’s mere act of consulting a higher power had secular liberals screaming “blasphemy.” Ralph Nader dubbed Bush a “messianic militarist.” Said Nader: “We are dealing here with a basically unstable president…. We are dealing with a messianic militarist…. Talk about separation of church and state: It is not at all separated in Bush’s brain, and this is extremely disturbing.”

Anytime Bush invoked his Lord, liberals invoked church-state separation, insisting that the president banish his faith from his political actions, and that his faith be barred from the public square.

In truth, it isn’t that liberals want faith out of politics and policy. No, they merely want the faith of conservative Republicans out of politics and policy. I could give literally thousands of examples of liberals enthusiastically embracing faith in the public square when cited by one of their presidents, from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton to Barack Obama.

A case in point is Obama’s recent advocacy of so-called “gay marriage.” In progressing to that viewpoint, Obama cited his faith. In explaining his thinking, Obama told ABC News that he is a “practicing Christian” who abides by “the Golden Rule … treat others the way you would want to be treated. And … that’s what motivates me as president.”

Yes, that’s right: President Obama invoked Jesus in support of gay marriage.

So, where are the howls and cries from liberals about “separation of church and state?” Not at all—instead they applauded him loudly and proudly.

Gee, I thought they didn’t want the president bringing his faith into the public square. What’s going on here? I’m confused.

Dr. Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values. His books include “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism” and “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.”

Connect

Most Popular

CE Shop

This page is having a slideshow that uses Javascript. Your browser either doesn't support Javascript or you have it turned off. To see this page as it is meant to appear please use a Javascript enabled browser.